Hello, Larry Stone here. Happy Father's Day to all the fathers out there. And to all those who attended the USS Mariner event yesterday, thanks for all the good questions and thoughtful discussion. It was a lot of fun.

This is the first game I've covered since the team came back from their road trip, and it appears that the losing is continuing to take a toll on John McLaren. He really looked haggard when he met with the media before the game. It's understandable, however. I would have to think that if they get swept at home by the Nationals, perhaps the worst team in the National League, there will be major repercussions. Of course, I can't count the number of times over the past three years I've felt the Mariners had reached a breaking point where heads were going to roll, and nothing happened.

McLaren's most interesting comments today were about Erik Bedard's status as pitcher who pretty much is done at 100 pitches.

"I think that's basically what he is,'' Mc"Laren said. "That's the way he was in Baltimore. Basically, he's programmed to go 100 pitches.

"There's not an easy way to put it. I'd love to see him go further, but if he's not capable, he's not capable....There's no use dwelling on it. It is what it is. He's a 100-pitch pitcher."

Here at the lineups, which has McLaren pulling out all the stops: Bloomquist at shortstop and Cairo at first. No, Betancourt was not benched for his decision to bunt on his own with two strikes last night, McLaren said.